marc’s phil(ART)delphia

By the suggestion of our professor, I decided to check out “You Are Here,” which is part of the American Philosophical Society Museum’s ongoing exhibit, Undaunted, and their current Unexpected program. The fact that it was described as a “theatrical walk in the park” intrigued me. After my experience, I can’t call “You Are Here” an event, nor can I call it an exhibit. It’s a hybrid between the two. Perhaps a living exhibit would be an appropriate description.

As our fearless leader, Brett Keyser, said, the twelve of us that signed up for the day’s expedition were truly explorers because the PR pieces for the living exhibit were a bit vague.

Brett Keyser leads 14 interactive, experiential “performance/expeditions” through Independence National Historical Park’s urban terrain. Intriguing to anyone interested in contemporary performance practices, these journeys are riffs on early explorers’ expeditions. Partly scripted and partly improvisational, they bow to chance encounters and the whims of nature.

-APS museum website

Before our expedition got underway, we filled out questionnaires that Keyser used to introduce us to the rest of the group. The twelve members of the expedition came from various backgrounds and corners of the world. Among the team members were two local teachers, two doctors, a couple from Alberta, Canada, a few people from California, and a woman from Chile. Our expedition also consisted of a photographer and a videographer to document the journey for the APS Museum.

Brave members of our expedition volunteered to be in charge of various navigational tools that have spanned the history of exploration. With the use of a compass, a sextant, binoculars, a pedometer, and a GPS receiver, we were ready to embark on our journey through Independence Park.

Throughout our expedition we learned how to use the instruments that were given, how to read a star chart, some history of Philadelphia, how to blaze a trail, and the truth about moss on the north side of a tree.

The APS and other cultural institutions should put on more programs like this. There is something about being lead on an expedition through Philadelphia that you don’t get from looking at pictures and artifacts through glass. Living Exhibitions like this may attract curious, new patrons to these organizations. The APS museum is jumping ahead into the future of cultural institutions

Below is a video of my experience.